J.D. Vance has said that he believes UFOs may not be extraterrestrial at all, but rather “monsters”, as he promised to investigate a long-promised government revelation on unidentified aerial phenomena. Speaking in a wide-ranging podcast interview, the US Vice President laid out his views through religion, while also pointing to ongoing efforts within Donald Trump’s administration to release classified material on UFOs and alleged alien encounters.
“I don’t think they’re aliens… I think they’re monsters.”
Vance made the comments during an appearance benny showHosted by Benny Johnson, where he was asked if the government was close to releasing files related to UFOs. Vance said, “We’re working on it… I’ll get to the bottom of the UFO files.” “I still have three more years as Vice President. I will get to the bottom of the UFO files.” He described a personal connection with the topic. “I’m more curious than anyone,” he said. “And I’ve had three years of being at the top of the classification. I’m getting to the bottom of it.” At the center of the conversation was his explanation of what a UFO sighting might mean. Vance said, “I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re monsters.” Expanding on that view, he added: “Divine beings that fly around, that do strange things to people, I think the desire to describe everything as divine, everything as otherworldly, to describe it as aliens…” “When I hear about extranatural phenomena, I go to the Christian understanding that there’s a lot of good out there, but there’s also some evil out there.” “I think one of the devil’s great tricks is to make people believe he never existed.” He also admitted that he had not yet fully investigated the issue: “I haven’t been able to spend enough time on it to understand it… I’m obsessed with it.” Vance said he had considered visiting Area 51 and New Mexico as part of that effort: “I’ve done this several times, we’re going to Area 51, we’re going to New Mexico, we’re getting to the bottom of it.”
Trump’s pressure to release UFO files
The comments come against the backdrop of a broader effort by the Trump administration to declassify information related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life. In February, Trump said he would direct federal agencies to release the files, writing on Truth Social: “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will direct the Secretary of War and other relevant departments and agencies to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files relating to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and to release any and all information relating to these extremely complex, but extremely interesting and important matters. God bless America!” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence later said on Twitter that the documents would be made public “soon”, although there has been no widespread release yet. Two federal domains, Alien.gov and Aliens.gov, were also registered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on March 17. As of March 19, none of the sites were live. When asked about these, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said USA Today: “Stay tuned!”
Obama’s comments and political background
Interest in UFOs has increased in recent years, including congressional hearings and the release of partial documents under legislation signed by former President Joe Biden in 2023. The issue came to prominence again following Barack Obama’s comments on a podcast with Brian Tyler Cohen. Obama said, “They are real, but I have not seen them and they are not being kept in Area 51.” He later clarified his position on Instagram: “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the chances are good that there is life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances of us being visited by aliens are slim, and I have seen no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” Trump criticized those comments, telling reporters that Obama had “given away classified information” and “made a big mistake.”Despite decades of speculation, investigations of UFO sightings have produced few definitive conclusions. Some phenomena remain unexplained, even as governments have become more open in acknowledging unidentified aerial phenomena.
